Hancock draws White Cliff rockets

After announcing further IOCG, copper and epithermal mineralisation from its Great Bear Lake copper-gold-silver project in northern Canada, the ASX junior has hired none other than John Hancock.

This is not a euphemism for a signature (pun, unfortunately, intended), but a genuine member of Western Australia’s royal mining family, whose success in the global commodities trade extends beyond its famous name.

John is the grandson of Lang Hancock, the superstar of Western Australia’s Pilbara mining industry. He has over 40 years of experience, from representing the prolific Hope Downs iron ore project to making early stage investments as a lender to lithium and uranium companies such as Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) And Aura Energy (ASX:AEE).

Hancock will advise on WCN’s portfolio of three projects in Canada and will also significantly expand exploration activities at the Great Bear Lake and Rae (Nunavut-Coppermine) copper projects.

“Bringing someone of John’s experience and calibre is a fantastic development for White Cliff,” said MD Troy Whittaker.

“John has an extensive international network and is a successful resources veteran with deep roots in the mining sector.

“I look forward to working with John as we execute this next step in our business and continue to unlock the untapped potential across all of the company’s projects.”

WCN shares soared on the news, trading at 1.5c – a rise of 15.4%.

ASE got underway early Monday morning after reporting results from four more drill holes at its Red Mountain lithium project in Nevada, US.

Drilling has produced thick intersections of Li above 1000 ppm, with the most notable finding being 13.7 m at 1070 ppm Li / 0.57% lithium carbonate equivalent from surface, including 83.8 m at 1230 ppm Li / 0.65% LCE from 16.8 m.

The project, scheduled to commence operations in 2023, is surrounded by a number of significant lithium deposits, including Lithium Americas’ Thacker Pass (16.1 Mt), American Battery Technology Corp.’s Tonopah Flats (15.8 Mt) and American Lithium’s 9.7 Mt projects.

There was a fair amount of trading in the morning, with shares rising from an opening price of 4.4 cents to 8 cents.

Despite a pullback, the lithium hunter is still up 13.5% at the time of writing.

(No news)

On July 3, gold-copper explorer WTM discovered shallow, high-grade mineralisation at its Spur project in the prolific Lachland Ford Belt of New South Wales, home to key deposits including the >50Moz Newmont gold and 9.5Mt copper Cadia.

The intersections are quite thick, with highlights of:

• 89m at 1.73g/t gold, 0.08% copper from 115m, including 57m at 2.5g/t gold and 0.11% copper from 115m; and
• 16m @ 5.59g/t gold, 0.32% copper from 156m.

The news is almost three weeks old, but investors seem to have taken notice.

WTM is targeting the edges of the Cargo Intrusive Complex at Spur for epithermal porphyry mineralisation and initial success bodes well for further exploration.

Shares are up 27.27% so far today and are trading at 35c.

AKN has jumped on the niobium bandwagon and has taken an option to acquire the Myoff Creek project in British Columbia, Canada.

Niobium is an essential element used in the production of nanocrystalline materials. It forms the basis for the next generation of advanced soft magnetic alloys used to control and convert electricity.

By adding niobium to the alloys, the materials can have a crystal size of

The identified carbonatite mineralization at Myoff Creek is close to surface and is poised to potentially host a significant deposit. Previous drilling has revealed high-grade deposits containing 0.93% Nb and 2.06% rare earth oxides (TREO).

In addition, the company is raising $150,000 in capital through an equity offering to fund acquisitions and early exploration.

AKN has had a wild ride this morning. On just 33 trades it rose from 2c to 2.4c just after midday Sydney time, before plummeting to 1.7c and rebounding to 1.8c at the time of publication.

Auking’s bizarre trading day could take another turn in a test of the dexterity of the day trader within us.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. Although White Cliff Minerals is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

This article is not financial product advice. You should consider seeking independent advice before making any financial decisions.